A transport consultant from South Australia presented the walk to school bus concept at a forum during the Sustainable Transport Week organised by the Tasmanian Environment Centre and Hobart City Council (HCC) in 2003. As a result Council's Greenhouse Reference Group decided to seek to trial a walking school bus concept in Hobart. South Hobart Primary School was chosen as the pilot school due to their recent work on air quality issues, the fact that many parents were walking already with their children to school and the enthusiastic school community.
During Term III 2003, HCC officers worked with South Hobart Primary School to identify safe commuting routes for a Walking School BusTM. The HCC provided the school with one locality map per class. This locality map covered South Hobart and other areas within 2km of the school. The class teachers were asked to put a dot at the location of each child's home. The office staff transferred the classes information to one map to assess where the majority of South Hobart Primary students lived.
Students were also asked to complete a survey regarding what form of transport they mainly use to get to school and how many kilometres they travel. This was to provide a measure for any change in attitudes in respect of transport after a walking school bus was under way.
Taking into account the students' questionnaire responses and marking of the locality map, two practical walking school bus routes were developed by HCC officers in conjunction with the school children and members of the schools Parents and Friends Association so that the most interesting routes were mapped. The Council's traffic engineering unit completed a safety audit of the routes before they were displayed to the school community.
Parents and the school community were informed of the outcomes of Stage 1 and information about the walking routes was displayed in the school newsletter. They were also given an overview of the proposed implementation of the subsequent stages of the Walking School BusTM project.
The drivers and conductors (parents, friends and staff) were organised by the school. Information was placed in the school newsletter and a meeting was called asking parents who were interested to attend. Once identified these people completed a Police check to ensure the safety of the children. Interested volunteer drivers met and organised a roster for the walking school bus. A discussion was held regarding the walking school bus concept and rules for parents. Orange vests were obtained for the volunteers to wear.
Parents and the school community were informed via newsletter of the outcomes of Stage 2, including the bus timetable and the names and contact details of the identified conductors and drivers of the Walking School BusesTM.
The walking school bus was launched during State Walk Week on Thursday 6th November 2003. Various sectors of the community were asked to attend a breakfast at South Hobart School and watched as kids arrived on foot at the school.
The buses ran each morning in Term III. The routes were subject to continuous safety audit by the drivers of the buses. The routes evolved during Term III to ensure safe road crossings and meeting places. The ratio of adults to children on the buses was at least 1:8. More adults were required where a large number of young passengers were using the buses.
In order to assess the success of the program students were asked to complete surveys again at the end of Term III.
Parents, teachers and the school community were enthusiastic about the walking school bus concept. Two routes were trialled however only route only continued for the duration of the school year. The second route did not have enough children as many of the children walked to school on their own. Also this route meant that children would have to walk a further distance to school.
The survey results (86 students returned the survey)
Approximately 2003 km driven in making the trip to school per week by households.
The walking school bus project saved 1717 km of car use to school.
About 30% of the children travelling on foot participated in the 2003 walk to school bus.
The South Hobart Primary School has been stimulated to incorporate this project into the school curriculum as much as possible through the Essential Learnings. The World Futures, Creating Sustainable Futures, performance guidelines in particular provide a wonderful opportunity for students to use their Walking School BusTM project as an case study of local action that can contribute to environmental sustainability.
A successful funding application was obtained through Cool Communities to continue the South Hobart Walking School BusTM for 2004. The aim of this funding has been to use and develop the South Hobart experience as a pilot model for other primary schools to adopt, starting with those in the Hobart City Council local government area. It was also set up to enable the school to:-
A meeting was advertised in a school newsletter at the beginning of term 1 to ascertain the extent of continued interest. 15 parents attended the meeting and the walk to school bus started again a week later.
The school community was interested in the walking routes being personalised with interesting seats, art, and gardens to make the journey even more of an adventure.
The school principal and Parents and Friends Association has been willing to continue to support the Walking School BusTM project and provide time to develop the community art projects with the children in classrooms.
To help maintain momentum for the continuation of the Walking School BusTM at the South Hobart Primary School itself a 2500 calendar was produced for the school community .The calendar used photos and artwork done by students. It also contained tips on every monthly page on energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The Walking School BusTM Guide has been prepared to assist other schools keen to have their own walking school bus.
Hobart City Council has also funded the production of a video of the South Hobart Walking School BusTM to help promote the concept elsewhere in the City and hopefully throughout Tasmania.
Clocking up the kilometres
As of September 2007 the Walking School Bus continues to operate five mornings per week.
At the beginning of each year the school now publishes a ‘walking bus timetable’ and route. Parents are still required to complete a registration form so their children can travel on the ‘WSB’.
Each morning drivers complete a list of who is on the bus for that day and at the end of each term all students who walk on the school bus are awarded a certificate to indicate how many kilometres they have walked for the term. The certificate at the end of the year also shows how far they have walked for the year.
On special occasions the ‘WSB’ will have days where children wear a particular colour, design a hat or jacket or make up a slogan to encourage others to walk. These activities keep the children interested and motivated, as well as, continuing to raise the profile of the bus in the South Hobart area.
Each November a ‘birthday party’ is held for the Walking School Bus. This is a terrific way to say thank you to all of the volunteers and to celebrate a wonderful community activity that is great for the environment, as well as, being great for the health and well-being of all those who use the bus.
The Walking School Bus continues to be a community activity which encourages families to share and spend time together whilst assisting children coming to school in a safe and healthy manner.
The School has found that older children (Years 3 – 6) enjoy walking and talking with younger children (Kinder – Year 2) and the younger children look up to these older children.
This interaction has fostered good relationships between children within the school community.
